ECU Biologists identify location and timing of fish spawning in NC marine waters
The Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS) is the title of a grant recently awarded to the UNC system by the NC General Assembly. This 1.5-million-dollar grant is made up of collaborators and scientists from UNCW, NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, and East Carolina University (ECU). The goal of the TEAL-SHIPS project is to collect data off the North Carolina coast to better understand how chemical, physical, and biological features influence the oceanography of our coastline. Many of the oceanographic surveys of the NC coastline were conducted in the 1990s; but few surveys have been conducted in recent years. In order for North Carolina’s marine resources to be properly managed, scientists and policy makers need up to date information on the processes that influence our coastlines. TEAL-SHIPS seeks to fill this gap through a series of eight planned research cruises from 2025 to 2026.
Rebecca Asch, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dr. Rebecca Asch, an ECU associate professor, is a collaborator of the TEAL-SHIPS grant and will be providing her expertise in fish spawning and larval and fish eggs. Little is known about fish spawning in North Carolina, and yet this information is vital to ensuring proper management of fish stocks. TEAL-SHIPS will be collecting both adult and larval fish on their cruises. Asch intends to use this data to determine the location, timing, and specific species that spawn in North Carolina waters. For those wanting to learn more about the TEAL-SHIPS project and ECU’s involvement, see this article that was released by the ECU News Service.